Pearson Brown English Lesson - Adjective Intensifier

There are some words which can be used to ‘intensify’ many adjectives – ‘very’ ‘really’ ‘totally’ ‘absolutely’ ‘completely’ ‘utterly’ ‘entirely’.

It’s very tall.
We’re really happy.
She’s totally exhausted.
I’m absolutely horrified.
He’s completely hopeless.
You look utterly miserable.
I’m entirely satisfied.

Certain adjectives have their own ‘special’ intensifiers which are often used with them. Here are some common ones:

blind drunk

He was blind drunk and behaved really badly.

bone dry

I must have a drink. I’m bone dry.

brand new

I’ve just bought a brand new car.

crystal clear

The sea near Rhodes is crystal clear.

dead easy

That exam was dead easy. I’ve certainly passed.

He’s won three lottery prizes this year. He’s dead lucky.

dead right

I agree entirely. You are dead right.

dirt cheap

I bought my car for a dirt cheap price from an old lady who had hardly driven it.

fast asleep / sound asleep

I was in bed and fast asleep by nine.
I was sound asleep and I didn’t hear anything.

paper thin

These office walls are paper thin. You can hear everything said in the next office.

pitch black

There’s no moon. It’s pitch black out there.

razor sharp

Be careful with that knife- it’s razor sharp.

rock hard

It’s impossible to dig this soil – it’s rock hard.

stark naked

The hotel door slammed behind me and I was left standing stark naked in the middle of the corridor.

stone deaf

He can’t hear a thing. He’s stone deaf.

wide awake

I was wide awake by six.

wide open

Who left the door wide open?

Exercises:

http://business-english.com/businesslanguage/adjectiveintensifiers/exercise1.html
http://business-english.com/businesslanguage/adjectiveintensifiers/exercise2.html
http://business-english.com/businesslanguage/adjectiveintensifiers/exercise3.html
http://business-english.com/businesslanguage/adjectiveintensifiers/exercise4.html
http://business-english.com/businesslanguage/adjectiveintensifiers/exercise5.html